Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 3D
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 3D (known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 3D outside the US) is an action-adventure video game developed by EA Bright Light and published by EA Games for the Nintendo 3DS based on J. K. Rowling's 1997 novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and its 2001 film adaptation. It is an enhanced remake of EA Games' Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone game which was released for the PlayStation in 2001. The game features gameplay elements heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda series. It boasts a cel-shaded and semi-cartoony art style similar to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and is set in a lively virtual recreation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and allows players to control Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger as they traverse the castle and surrounding areas. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 3D was released on the 10th anniversary of the theatrical release of the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone film on November 16th, 2011. It was the last game to be developed by EA Bright Light. Gameplay In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 3D, players can alternate between Harry, Ron, or Hermione at various points throughout the game. The gameplay mainly focuses around solving puzzles and exploring the castle while progressing through the storyline, which is adapted almost directly from the novel. There are six spells to be learned in the game. These consist of Flipendo, which moves objects and damages enemies; Expelliarmus, which shields the player; Lumos, which lights up dark areas; Wingardium Leviosa, which levitates objects; Incendio, which conjures fire; Verdimillious, which transforms patches of darkness into platforms that can be jumped or climbed onto; and Avifors, which transforms statues into living creatures (like birds). Flipendo and Expelliarmus are respectively taught by Nearly Headless Nick and Percy Weasley at the start of the game, Lumos is taught via reading a spellbook in the Gryffindor Common Room, and Wingardium Leviosa, Incendio, Verdimillious, and Avifors are respectively taught by Professor Flitwick in Charms class, Professor Sprout in Herbology class, Professor Quirrel in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration class. Throughout the castle and surrounding areas, the player will find colorful Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans to collect, in yellow, blue, green, and red forms. Collecting a certain amount of beans will give the player a reward if they are given to Fred and George Weasley at their shop in the Gryffindor Common Room. 50 yellow beans will grant the Nimbus 2000, 70 blue beans a Harry Potter Wizard Card, 80 green beans advanced Quidditch armor, and 1000 red beans a stronger Flipendo upgrade. Reception Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 3D received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans, with scores of 8.7/10 from GameSpot, 8.2/10 from IGN, and 3.5/5 from Nintendo Power. The game's main source of praise was its explorable and accurate recreation of Hogwarts, as well as its improvements over the PlayStation original. HD version An enhanced high-definition version of the game simply titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released on November 17th, 2017 for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows. This version features enhanced graphics, more realistic physics, an updated game engine, and a larger open world to explore outside of the Hogwarts school grounds. It was developed by EA DICE due to EA Bright Light's closure. Reception The HD version received critical acclaim, being called "the best Harry Potter game in years" by several reviewers. In its first month of release, the Nintendo Switch version of the game managed to sell over 1.5 million copies. The Xbox One and PS4 versions were also commercially successful. Possible sequel Due to the HD version's success, EA DICE has expressed interest in the possibility of developing a sequel, based on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which they say would likely be a re-imagining of the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube versions of the game rather than the PlayStation version. Category:Nintendo 3DS Games Category:EA Games Category:Action Adventure Games Category:Remakes Category:Xbox One Games Category:PlayStation 4 Games Category:PC Games Category:Microsoft Windows Games